Her Perfect Little Family
by LindaWalker69
Summary: A look into the past after the reveal of the forbidden room... then, jumping ahead to the present where Karen receives some unexpected but very welcome visitors...
1. Chapter 1

The past…

She had just put Jack to sleep in Stan's study- the poor thing; his fever had reached 102 degrees and it had kept him up for hours. After tucking him in with a heated blanket and some soft music playing in the background, however, he was out like a light. Karen snuck out of the room as quietly as she could in her heels; the damn things could be heard from a mile away. She finally made it out of the dark study and closed the door ever so gently behind her. The brunette started to make her way down the hall when she stopped dead in her tracks and gave the door on her left a side glance… it looked as though repairman had already gotten to the doorknob and put it back into place- god he was too damn reliable. She wanted to pass it and go to the kitchen for her usual late-night, before-bed martini, but something in her wouldn't let her keep going. She knew what was about to happen, and she couldn't stop it. Slowly, and painfully, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the key… the key that would, once again, open the forbidden door. Slowly, she turned and walked the few steps it took to make it to that dreaded doorway. As she slid the key into the lock, a bone-chilling and all too familiar chill made its way down her spine. Carefully, as if she feared it would break, she turned the key and opened the door, looking into the dark and unforgiving room. It mocked her, really, knowing that she would never be able to put into that room what she should have been able to like so many other women in her life. With great hesitation, Karen flipped on the light switch and entered the forbidden room…

Slowly, she walked across the wooden floor, every step eliciting a creak, almost like the floor was moaning. No one had been in there in years so the sheer weight of her body was a feeling the wood hadn't experienced in a while. Dust covered every inch of every surface; every toy, shelf, and piece of furniture had a layer so thick it looked as though a fluffy film of snow had taken over. Karen walked slowly to the bookshelf where copies of "Goodnight Moon" and "Baby's Very First Animals Book" sat, waiting to be read by her to a little soul. She ran her finger along one of the shelves, leaving a clean line in the dust. Suddenly, she got to the rocking chair; oh how she longed for it to be used. A daydream started playing in her mind, and she pictured it so clearly, gazing at the chair and going into a sort of trance…

The room around her suddenly seemed so warm and inviting- the colors more vibrant and the toys and books clean and loved, without a trace of dust in sight. There she was, a new mom, sitting in the rocking chair with her baby. She had a daughter, a beautiful little girl with wisps of brown hair and green eyes like her mother. She held the baby close to her chest, their breathing and their heartbeats becoming one; she couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes. She was happy, and she had this little being to love and to care for. The baby started stirring, and soon began crying. Without hesitation, Karen opened up her shirt and undid her bra; the little one immediately latched on and began feeding. A content smile overcame the brunette's face and she closed her eyes, supporting the baby in one hand and stroking her fragile little head with the other. She gently began to sing, "Hush little baby, don't you cry"…

Karen snapped out of her daze when she heard Jack's voice from across the hall.

"Kare? Where are you? I want some cough drops but I can't find them… Kare?"

"Coming, poodle! I just… left something in here, I'll be right out!"

She took one last look around the room, the image of her daydream still alive and dancing around her mind. As she made her way for the door, she stopped at the crib. She adjusted the lining and brushed some of the dust off of it, trying to make it look as though it hadn't been abandoned and forgotten. She bent down and placed one hand in the crib where a baby would have been lying, and placed her other hand on her flat stomach. With tears in her eyes, she started talking to the empty crib…

"I am so sorry I failed you… I was supposed to give you a baby to keep you warm and to give you purpose but I couldn't do that…"

The hand on her empty abdomen started making little circles and she looked down with a solemn smile…

"I never even knew the feeling of being pregnant and that was something I had always wanted to experience. I knew that I would get fat and I knew that I would be miserable, but I wanted to have a little one grow inside me, to share my blood and to be next to my heart. I wanted to give a little soul life, and to bring into the world to raise and teach everything I know that is good in this world. I could've protected them and loved them with every fiber of my being…"

Karen stopped herself, for she knew this would only send her into another night of sobbing and drinking herself into unconsciousness. She wiped her tears and pulled herself together as she made her way to the door. With one last painful glance around the room, she shut and locked the door behind her, leaving the pain and the misery locked away in the cold and dusty room.


	2. Chapter 2

The present…

It was an average Monday night in the Walker mans- cook was preparing a feast, even though it was only Karen and Stan that would be having dinner. Maid was vacuuming the long halls and dusting every piece of furniture and every decoration in the big, empty rooms. Karen was in Stan's library- she always spent her evenings in there, sitting in one of the big, decorative chairs with a martini in her hand, waiting for no one and nothing in particular. She didn't know where Stan was, and frankly, she didn't care. All was quiet and that was what the older brunette had become accustomed to. Suddenly, a loud knocking on the front door shook everyone from their daily routine trance and there was dead silence; no clanking in the kitchen, no whirring of the vacuum, and no whispering of the staff. The knocking continued and Karen couldn't take it anymore so she stood up angrily from her chair and made her way to the front door.

"Who the hell would be banging on my door this late in the day…" she whispered under her breath as her martini spilled over a little from the severity of her walking. She finally got to the door and flung it open, "Who the hell are you, knocking on my do…" Karen stopped in the middle of her sentence and her mouth fell open. She couldn't believe who was standing there in her doorway… "O… Olivia?"

"Hi, mom."

Karen couldn't believe her eyes… Olivia… she hadn't seen her stepdaughter in years, more than she could count on her hands. Why was she here now? Was she okay? Suddenly, she saw it; Olivia had a bundle in her arms and it started to wriggle…

"Oh, Karen, I almost forgot to introduce you… this is my daughter, Melanie..."

Olivia slowly pulled back the blanket that was wrapped around Melanie to reveal her perfect little face. She had wisps of blonde hair and bright, blue eyes. Her rosy little lips were pursed as she cooed and nuzzled into her mother's chest. Karen's breath caught in her throat as she observed the tiny little person in her stepdaughter's arms. She was gorgeous- the spitting image of Olivia. She looked away as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Karen, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine, honey, I just got some dust in my eyes is all…"

Olivia knew the older brunette all too well to know when she was suppressing her emotions, which was quite often and often hidden with drugs and alcohol. But this time she knew that Karen wasn't hopped up on pills, and that she had barely touched her martini. She knew of her stepmothers painful past, after stumbling upon the forbidden room one afternoon when Karen had forgotten to lock it behind her. As a little girl, Olivia didn't fathom what it had all meant, but as she grew up, Karen's pain became evident to her and the impact of the situation affected the young girl, now a young woman.

"Karen? Would you like to hold Melanie? Would you like to hold your granddaughter?"

Karen didn't know how to react to that… to being considered by Olivia to be her baby's grandmother. It was a weird notion, but it warmed her heart in such a magnificent way.

"Sure, honey, I guess so…" She held out her arms, not knowing what to expect.

Olivia smiled and looked down at her daughter… "Now, you be good for grandma, okay?" She kissed Melanie's little head as she adjusted the blanket and picked her up off of her chest to bring to Karen's outstretched arms. Slowly, Olivia placed her baby daughter into Karen's arms and the older brunette inhaled sharply as she began to breathe heavily, her nerves overcoming her.

"It's okay, mom, you've got this. You're doing it right."

Karen gave her stepdaughter a nervous smile and then brought her attention to the little soul now resting in her arms. She brought the baby closer to her chest as Melanie let out a little coo and opened her eyes, looking up at her grandmother. She couldn't believe how beautiful she was, how absolutely flawless this little girl was.

"Hi Melanie…" she said in a soft and gentle voice "I'm your… your grandmother… I know I just met you but I am already so in love with you." Karen started stroking the baby's head ever so gently as she held her tightly with the other arm, bringing her up to her face so she could take in her scent. She smelled amazing; it must be that 'new baby smell' that everyone had always talked about. Karen couldn't help the tears that had been forming in her eyes, which now cascaded down her cheeks, leaving streaks in her makeup so her porcelain white skin now shown through. In a lower voice, almost like a whisper but barely audible, she continued, "Don't tell your mommy this, but I am so happy that you two came to me tonight. Your timing couldn't have been more perfect. You can stay here as long as you'd like because you're my family… my perfect little family.

After saying these heartfelt words to her granddaughter (which she had no idea where they came from because being sappy was the last thing Karen Walker ever was), She gave the baby a little kiss on her velvet soft head and carefully placed her back in her mother's arms. A shiver went through her body and a warm, aching feeling settled in her abdomen. As she placed a hand on her stomach and wiped the sweat off of her brow with the other, she thought to herself, "was this a maternal feeling overcoming her?" because the feeling was all too familiar. She had felt it years ago when she thought she was pregnant and had images dancing in her head of what it would be like to see her belly grow and to eventually have a little person to take care of. After the feeling had made its way through her body, Karen turned to her stepdaughter…

"Olivia, sweetie, follow me. I have something to show you."

Olivia gave her stepmother a confused look but followed her anyway through the cold and empty mansion that she had grown up in and enjoyed as a child. She remembered the lonely abode as being one of happier times, with every light on and her and Mason running through the halls playing tag or just running around for no reason at all. She remembered smelling the delicious food always cooking in the massive kitchen and going there for a snack whenever she wanted. Now, the mans just seemed to have an eerie feeling to it, like it was missing something. Like it needed a family again to keep it warm and alive. Eventually, Olivia stopped behind Karen at a door that was right across from her father's library. This door seemed all too familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. As she pondered the contents of what lie behind this mysterious door, Olivia watched as her stepmother pulled a large, antique-like key from her pocket- and then it dawned on her. She remembered what was in this room and she remembered seeing Karen become emotional every time she emerged from it when she was a little girl. Then, Karen turned around to face her…

"Olivia, sweetheart… I think you remember what is in this room…" Karen put the key in the lock and slowly turned it to unlock the forbidden door… as the door slowly creaked open, Karen's breath caught in her throat and tears threatened to escape her eyes once again… "I want to give this room to you, honey. I was never able to give it a little life to keep safe and warm, but here you are with your beautiful baby daughter…" the older brunette very gently placed a hand on Melanie's head as she stroked her little wisps of hair… "And now, this room has a purpose. Your daughter will have a place to play and grow up and this crib will have a baby to protect and comfort… this rocking chair will have a mother who can sit in it and rock her sweet baby to sleep…" Karen bent down and placed one more kiss on her granddaughter's head as she wiped her tears away… "Here, honey, take this key; this room is yours now, so this key is yours now too."

Olivia didn't know what to say… she had NEVER seen Karen this emotionally raw before and it scared her… it also warmed her heart to know that this hard woman could actually break down that wall and show her emotions. All she could do was go to Karen and embrace her… her stepmother flinched at first at the contact but then gave in and held her stepdaughter with the baby now fast asleep in her arms. Karen finally had what she had always wanted… a little family, and she was more ready than ever to help Olivia raise Melanie and to finally use the forbidden room… no, the room. The nursery. Melanie's nursery.


End file.
